Guardians of Time
by MajinBakaHentai
Summary: Ficlet series about the Guardians of Time and Space, Sailor Pluto and Vector Prime. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Guardians of Time  
**Fandom:** Transformers, Sailor Moon  
**Characters:** Setsuna (Sailor Pluto), Vector Prime  
**Disclaimer:** I know, I don't own either. I also happen to be poor, so I suspect that suing me for something I am frankly making no money on is worth anyone's time anyway.

**A/N:** I suppose this was started by my suggestion for Kathrine's fic _By Crescent Light_ that she write a chapter with Pluto and Vector meeting. The simple idea of those two as friends stayed with me, and it has ended up as this. I do intend on writing more chapters, but when I get around to them... well, we'll have to see.

* * *

The first time they met, Setsuna had been only four. Not four hundred, not four thousand, just four.

Princess Setsuna, daughter of King Hades and Queen Persephone of Pluto, could not even remember the first time she had stumbled into the Fourth Dimension and found the Space-Time Door, but she could definitely remember first meeting the other Guardian of Space-Time, Vector Prime.

The massive robot had come to investigate the Door - an artificial construct built by scientists of pre-Millennium society - and assess it's danger to the stability of Space-Time, only to find he was not the only one to have found the gateway.

Setsuna had stood bravely, as the Senshi she would one day become, in the face of his gaze, naming herself the Daughter of Chronos, Lord of Time, and the Door's destined guardian. Unfamiliar with the entity she named, Vector had scanned her only to find she showed very strange readings - this simple organic youngling had all the same energy readings that his own time engine gave off within her frail organic frame.

From that moment on, Vector Prime had endeavored to build a friendship with the small Guardian, all through her childhood, into her adulthood and her officially assuming her place at the Door.

* * *

[Before you mention it, I actually did attribute Sets with two fathers deliberately. Her biological father is Hades, but her Time powers came from the Chronoarchitect - he's just known as Chronos to the humans of the Silver Alliance.]


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Kaleia's review made me want to tackle the question of Chronos and get the issue of Vector's knowledge (or lack there-of) out of the way. This chapter is either in the same meeting as the first, or very soon after - at least in Setsuna's life.

* * *

"How much do you know about this Gate?"

"I've had dreams. Father Chronos told me that people made it a long time ago to try change the past, but he took the Key off them so they couldn't and locked the Door so no one else could get through it."

"So Chronos has the Key?"

"No, he gave it to someone who would keep it safe until I'm old enough to use it."

"Hmm... I am still somewhat puzzled as to who Chronos is. I wonder if I know him by a different name..."

A giggle is heard. "You do! He's talked about you!"

"Oh? What did he say?"

"You're one of the children of his brother, the one who goes around and makes sure Time has no holes and goes it's proper way. Father Chronos wants me to guard the Door so you can keep moving around."

"Child of his brother? Father Primus only has the Destroyer-"

"Nooooo! Chaos is their brother too, but most people don't really know about Father because he's so difficult to find. He can't even appear in normal Time and Space because he _is_ Time and if he tried, he'd cause holes to rip open and that'd just make a mess!"

Vector blinks. "I think I now know who you refer to. He is known to my people as as-" a short flurry of electronic beeps and tones. "It can be translationed roughly as 'Architect of Time'."

Another giggle. "That's a good name for him, I think he'd like it."

* * *

[The Chronoarchitect is characterised - at least on the TF Wiki - as one of the "Old Gods", kin to Unicron and Primus. As far as I know, he exists in only one comic, one of the Botcon special issue ones. Still, it's an easy equivalent to draw, to associate him with Chronos.]


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Pardon the double notice on this chapter - I accidentally posted it before I did the spellcheck.

**Obligatory Denial:** I don't own them, I don't make money.

* * *

She was older now, not much older - stilling in her younglinghood really - but old enough to start developing a more dignified manner. Even so, some childishness shone through the royal demeanour, giving Vector a small spark of joy to know that maturity was not eliminating it.

A great many things that were wrong in Cybertronian society would not exist if the mechs who ran things had kept a hold of their youngling sense of joy.

Vector Prime had spent some time, in between his duties, investigating the society Setsuna lived in. It hardly surprised him that this _Silver Alliance_ encompassed the planet Earth, that world and it's people, he had found were a major dimensional nexus point - a place that proliferated timelines by the hundreds. In a way, he was unsurprised too that so much of Cybertron's timelines were directly linked to Earth.

Still, the Silver Alliance was fascinating - it's science, which to an uneducated mind would appear to be magic, it's length of rule, and the after effects of it's presence.

The Setsuna he so far knew was still living in the beginnings of it's reign - she being the daughter of one of the founding monarchs that had signed the treaty establishing the peaceful relations between the planets. Somewhat ironically, it was also the Plutonian king's actions that had made Earth's monarchs refuse to also sign - Setsuna's own mother was from Earth, daughter of Queen Demeter, who had violently objected to her daughter going to live on the farthest planet from her birth world.

Vector had noted that Setsuna would be an unchanging factor in the history of the Silver Millennium, and also after, on Earth. He had gone far enough to even find that she would remain present in the future kingdom of Crystal Tokyo, but had not wanted to venture too much further.

If there was one thing that had always grieved him, it was the transitory lives that normal citizens of the multiverse lived. It made him glad it a small way to at least know that this youngling he was letting himself befriend would at least be around for more than a blink of and optic.

For now however, he merely enjoyed spending time chatting to her, watching for those flashes of childish abandon that made her truly sparkle.

* * *

BTW Kaleia, don't worry about "forcing" me into writing a chapter - you can't. Last chapter was in the back of my mind anyway and your review was just a prod that got me to write it straight away.  
As for Chaos, I don't know when I'll get to that in the story itself, so to clarify, Unicron is often referred to as "The Chaos Bringer", so for the same reasons I've made Chronos and the Chronoarchitect the same entity, I also think of Unicron and Chaos as the same - or at least two aspects of the same principal. In the same line of thinking, I also consider Primus and Sailor Cosmos as two aspects of the principal of Order.


	4. Chapter 4

**Obligatory Denial:** I _did_ win $65 on Lotto yesterday, but I got absolutely no money for writing this. I doubt anyone can sue me for winning Lotto, and a doubt it would be cost effective to sue me for writing fanfic.

* * *

She _felt_ the tremor through the timescape, a feeling she was becoming quite familiar with, that of her giant metallic friend using his ability to open gateways through Time. Her Time-sense was not yet developed enough to sense much beyond her local dimensional cluster, but it was enough to know when the wandering Guardian of Time had dropped in to visit the Space-Time Door - to visit _her_.

As soon as Princess Setsuna could remove herself from her tutors, she slipped from normal space into the realm of the Fourth Dimension - the realm of Time, where the Door was - to see Vector Prime again.

What she found however was not what she expected.

Vector lay, in bipedal form, on the pseudo-ground, as if he'd collapsed there, unconscious - and with obvious reason too, the mech was a twisted wreckage of burnt and melted metal, bent plating and sparking wiring. His sword, Rhisling, lay to one side, where he had obviously dropped it, not even able to get it back into it's storage bay before he had fallen.

The princess had circled him in worried concern, not sure how she could help as even if she went back to the Tartarus Palace to obtain one of her Aunt Hecate's healing crystals, she was not sure they would work on a mechanical being like Vector. Still, she decided, it was better to try and fail than to dither and his condition worsen.

She moved quickly - thankfully Princess Hecate was away, on Charon, tending to her duties as Sailor Pluto and watching the sensor net that spanned the whole of the Kupier Belt. It was the Duty of the Soldier of Judgement to be the first line of warning for the Alliance of an attack from beyond the boarders of the Solar System.

Setsuna carefully avoided the maids, getting into her Aunt's quarters and found the chest Hecate's magic tools were kept. Hearing the chambermaid returning, she quickly dove back into the Fourth Dimension, praying to Cosmos and Chronos that the crystal would work as she hoped.

Centering her mind on the crystal, as her Aunt had been instructing her to do, Setsuna directed her developing powers through it, to restore her injured friend, watching as torn, sparking lines slowly re-link, pipelines that carried the glowing blue liquid she guessed was the equivalent of blood slowed their leaking and eventually stopped, and the worst of the warped metal started to straighten out. Her vision was darkening and she was on the verge of passing out when Vector's voice - badly cracking with static - called to her to stop.

It was not the natural aptitude of a child of Pluto - the icy hell-world where Death reigned - to try to fight off Death - that was more High Queen Selene's power.

It was an unmeasured time later when Vector was well enough to explain what had happened. He had slowly weaved a tale for the young princess, a story of the eternal war between the great avatars of Chaos and Order, and how the lord of Order - brother to the legendary Cosmos - had created thirteen children to battle the lord of Chaos with his own power of transformation. The lord of Order - known to Vector as Primus - had given each of the Thirteen powers to aid their battle, but the brother who had been made guardian of Entropy had delved so deeply into researching his power that he had lost sight of it's true purpose and walked the dark path that had led him to Unicron, the lord of Chaos.

The other twelve had to face their brother in battle, renaming him "The Fallen", and eventually banishing him alongside Unicron to the depths of a black hole.

Vector explained that at some point the Fallen had found his way back into the multiverse and when he had, it became a part of Vector's duty to see that his plots to lead Unicron to the sleeping Primus never succeeded. It did however mean that Vector would have to occasionally battle his apostate brother, and face the potential damage the Fallen's ever-present flames would cause.

"I will be here, whenever you need help." It was the best Setsuna could promise him - the promise of a safe haven, a modicum of healing, and her friendship.

* * *

Okay, yes, I'm taking liberties - especially with Setsuna partly healing Vector, and her innate Time powers (which are only minor at the moment because she's still young and doesn't have the Garnet Rod yet). I also addressed something in the back of my mind - at least in this little AU, Setsuna is not the first Sailor Pluto. Princess Hecate is the sister of King Hades, so therefore Sets' aunt, and the current holder of the post. Some day I may explain what became of their other sibling, Thanatos, but not at the moment.  
Also, Vector has told Setsuna a bit of his own past - the history of the Original Thirteen and the betrayal of Megatronus Prime, otherwise known as the Fallen (no, he's not just a resident of movieverse, and in other areas of the multiverse he's permenently on fire).


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Oooh! Hello! One of my OCs gets a chapter! Thankfully, like a good OC, she's here because of her thoughts on one of our stars.

**Obligatory Denial:** If I owned them, this crossover would be official canon.

* * *

Not for the first time did Hecate, Princess Royal of Pluto, wonder about her niece's powers.

It was totally out of the question that Setsuna would not have any - she was, after all, the daughter of a strong king and, if she had not left Earth, a princess who could have inherited the Golden Crystal. Even Hades and Hecate's brother, Thanatos, was quite powerful with the traditional Death magics of Pluto, and his daughter, Hotaru, was showing a unique mix of both his and Eileithyia's magics.

But still, Setsuna's powers were a puzzle Hecate was having continued trouble unraveling. For all the stars in the ever-dark skies, she could not get an accurate fix on exactly what sort of power the girl had. It wasn't Death magic, or the powers of Judgment as Hecate wielded, and every test she could give Setsuna failed to show a strong affinity for anything else she could find talismans for.

So when, on a hunting trip to the Hel Glacier, the royal party's sleds were attacked by wild Cerberus Hounds, it came as a surprise when Setsuna transformed into a slightly different uniform to Hecate's own black and midnight blue and summoned up a strange blast that froze the Hounds in their tracks long enough for Hecate to eradicate them.

Returning to the scene later, Hecate studied the traces of the battle, and finding no evidence of any sort of Ice power involved (which while it was the signature of Mercury, was not truly outside the bounds of Plutoian power either), but instead the strange presence of an ice flower growing at visible speed, only to regress back to virtually nothing again.

Again Hecate was mystified - no one controlled Time, but if this constantly growing and shrinking flower were any proof, it seemed Setsuna did - and unbelievable first in not only Plutonian history but also in the known history of the Alliance and all the galaxy beyond.

High Queen Selene would have to be notified.

* * *

**Postscript A/N:** As always, I am borrowing from mythology for names and the like - Hades, Persephone, Hecate, Thanatos, Tartarus Palace, Hel Glacier, Cerberus Hounds... even Thanatos's wife, Eileithyia.  
Oh, and if you don't understand the details? Eileithyia was the Greek goddess of childbirth. Cross that with Thanatos being the Greek god of Death and you get the idea of why I made them Hotaru's parents in the Silver Millennium.

And yes, that does mean that Hotaru and Setsuna are cousins.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I'm trying something this time that I haven't been doing much of - actual dialog. I don't know why, but I'm just not very confident with it. I need practice though.  
Also, Sets is now acting like a teenager. I imagine she's maybe 13 at this point.

**The Usual Disclaimer:** I am not Naoko Takeuchi. I am not Hasbro. I am not Takara Tomy. I'm also not making any money here, so if the aforementioned are offended... well let me know and I'll desist. Given the lack of C&Ds in these fandoms however (and the existence of doujinshi for SM, and presumably some for TFs too), I don't they'll ever bother.

* * *

When he arrived at the Space-Time Door, Vector Prime was surprised to find Setsuna sitting on top of the lintel of the Door, putting her right at head height to him. The fact that she was sitting there was not the whole surprise, no the other half of the surprise was her clothing.

Instead of the usual range of elegant gowns and dresses customary of a princess, Setsuna was wearing the uniform of a Sol Senshi, but not in the colours he had expected. From the observations he had made of the Silver Millennium and beyond, Vector was well aware that Setsuna's uniform would have a black skirt and deep garnet red bows, but this uniform, on the barely teenage Setsuna instead had midnight blue bows and steely grey jewelery. The result ended up with Setsuna looking like a colour swap of her Aunt Hecate, when in uniform.

She was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, and her chin on them, with a despondent look on her face - the face of someone who had faced their first serious battle.

"I am now Sailor Neo Pluto." She stated without looking up at Vector, before he could ask about the change. "You'd think on a hunting trip in the Glaciers, everyone would expect wild animals, but we weren't that deep into the wildlands when the Hounds attacked. One of them cut Aunt Hecate off and I panicked... and changed. Blasted them with an uncontrolled chronal blast."

"But no one was injured."

"No, Aunt Hecate took them out once I'd frozen them in Time."

That at least was a relief. "Then everything is fine."

Setsuna shook her head. "I didn't expect to become a Senshi this early. Aunt Hecate first came into her powers when she was sixteen, and even then, she'd already been learning magic since she was seven."

"You will have aid - your Aunt, I'm sure will see to your training, and what she may not comprehend of your Time abilities, I think we can work out ourselves." Vector assured her.

"But I still don't have the Key." There was a distinctly worried tone in Setsuna's voice. "I won't be able to use my powers properly until I have it, and can access the Door." She absently punctuated her words with a small stamp of a foot against the stone she sat on.

Vector considered the issue - he knew what she had once said about the Chronoarchitect giving it to someone, but all attempts to find out from the entity were rebuffed with a simple comment of _"She has already recieved it."_ - at least when Vector got a coherent reply. Even he - a Guardian of Time - had trouble communicating with the Chronoarchitect.

"If I knew who had it..." He said, mostly to himself.

"Father Chronos was never clear on who that was." Setsuna said, turning her head to look at him for the first time. "He only implied that it was someone I could trust."

"Hmm... That does not leave much to go on." Vector murmured. Speaking up slightly, he added "I will have to investigate the matter."

"Mmm." Setsuna did not say anything else, turning her face back to blank contemplation of the misty nothingness around them.

On what seemed only a whim of his spark, Vector reached up to lightly run a finger along Setsuna's arm. The young Senshi looked up and gave him a weak smile, straightening up and giving the large digit a pat. She didn't say anything, but her gratitude for his support was obvious enough.

* * *

**Postscript A/N:** So Setsuna's uniform is not yet it's proper colours - I have reasons for that, which I will probably resolve in two or three chapters. Believe it or not, the only significant plot I've thought of for this series is what's happening now. I don't know what will happen after this is resolved, I'll see when I get there.  
Also, yes, she's currently Sailor _Neo_ Pluto - that's because she's sharing the post with Hecate. And more mythology, though only subtle this time - Hecate is the goddess of witches, so this Hecate is also a practiced magic user, as implied with her being trained in magic since she was seven.

And boy, I've been blazing through the chapters in the last few days! Three new chapters since the weekend? Well I guess the ficlet series format suits me, doesn't it?


	7. Chapter 7

** A/N:** Took a while to get this up - FFN has been playing up on me. BTW, beware plot!

**Disclaim Her:** Do I _look_ like I own them?

* * *

_The Door... Vector..._

Vector stood, a hand resting on the Space-Time Door.

Setsuna wasn't there. Vector did not doubt that she had sensed his arrival, but it was likely that for the moment she occupied with duties that kept her on Pluto, instead of coming to see him. Not that he minded, he was here more to study the Door itself than his usual social visit.

_She needs the Key..._

Vector had been getting odd messages, at odd times. Not through any of usual communication lines, but through the timestream itself.

_Vector... Unicron's servants..._

He knew, of course, exactly what they were, he had plenty of past experience with this exact thing.

_A tear... making it... change..._

The Chronoarcitect. The strange sentient manifestation of Time that constituted Vector's secondary master. Even for Vector, spending much of his life outside normal timelines, communication with the Chronoarcitect was difficult - the entity may be Time itself, but had trouble understanding the concept of linear existence as most beings in the multiverse understood it.

_The Key... She has already received it... you need to find..._

Even as confusing as he was, Vector was starting to see what the Chronoarchitect was trying to tell him, and for that reason he was here, at the Door, trying to divine it's own timeline.

To find where it started.

_Find it... give it..._

If he could find the Door's exact beginning, he could carry out the mission the Chronoarchitect was sending him on - one that would give Setsuna the tool needed to truly begin to carry out her own mission.

_Find the Key..._

* * *

**Postscript:** I know, I am not one who begs for reviews, and I'm not doing so now. However, I appreciate what reviews I do get. Thank you to those who give them.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Say hello to Hotaru! I hope she's okay. She may seem a bit too wise for a child, but I couldn't help it. I was inspired by a fic to write something about the two of them together in this part of their lives, something to show them as cousins.

**Disclaimer:** Of I owned them, Usagi would be Headmaster partner of Optimus Prime, which would mean I'd _have_ to make Mamoru Headmaster partner to Ultra Magnus, because I ship OP/UM like nobody's business. Then again, Headmasters wouldn't even exist either, so I guess I don't own them because there's still freakin' Headmasters crap in existence.

* * *

Setsuna walked down the grand staircase of the Lunar Palace's ballroom, trying her best not to let herself stumble in a fit of adolescent clumsiness. It was Queen Selene's Grand Ball for one-hundredth aniversary of the signing of the Silver Alliance treaty and all the royal families of the Solar System were there, except for King Antaeus and his son, Prince Tellus, and Tellus's son, Prince Typhon.

It was kind-of hard to imagine that both her uncle and her cousin were now old men, and even her cousin's son was middle-aged. But then, Setsuna had never had the opportunity to meet her mother's family on Earth, not since Queen Demeter had refused to sign the treaty over the issue of Persephone's wedding to the Plutoian king. The Lunar Palace was the closest Setsuna - or her mother - would ever be to the planet Earth in the foreseeable future.

_"The foreseeable future!"_ See thought to herself. _"I'll be able to see far more when my Key is delivered!"_ Setsuna knew that the mysterious Key Father Chronos had promised she would receive would unlock the bulk of her powers. But now was not the time to worry about that, now was for looking elegant and socializing, like the princess she was.

She found herself scanning the crows, trying to spot some of the younger royals. She could see Aunt Hecate talking earnestly with Queen Selene, and over to the left was Queen Aphrodite of Venus, surrounded by a crowd of admirers, and not far from there, King Zeus and King Ares laughing boisterously... but she still couldn't spot any of their children.

"Cousin?" A soft voice came from behind her. "Lost someone?"

Setsuna spun to find a girl in a deep purple gown behind her - Princess Hotaru, daughter to Queen Eileithyia and King Thanatos of Saturn. Hotaru was also Setuna's cousin by virtue of King Thanatos being the younger brother of King Hades of Pluto.

"No!" Setsuna said, a hand on her chest. "I just could not see any of the other royal children... It's a little off-putting to have to listen to too much adult talk."

Hotaru gave her a small smile. "I know, important as statecraft may be, this _is _a party, after all. Serenity has lured most of the other out to the gardens." That was just like the young Moon Princess, lighthearted girl that she was, she had even less tolerance for adult talk than either Setsuna or Hotaru did.

Hotaru offered a hand to Setsuna, which Setsuna had no problems with taking, as they set out for the balcony that led out to the royal gardens.

"I heard you have started come into you senshi powers, Sets."

Setsuna nodded. "Just starting to, but I can't do much yet."

"That's to be expected at the start, none of us start out with much power... except maybe me..." Hotaru was already a puzzle to the System's Senshi, with already vast and dangerous powers, despite only being ten years of age.

"Aunt Hecate keeps trying tests to see if I show any Judgement or Death magic, but it's just not coming through and my _other_..."

"Other?" Hotaru's looked at her with her large dark eyes.

Setsuna stopped and turned to her cousin. "You know I've told you Lord Chronos talks to me?"

Hotaru nodded silently.

"He's always said that there's a _Key _that someone will give me that will allow me to use my powers. I don't think I'll be able to do much of anything until I get it and I'm worried I'll let Aunt Hecate and everyone down until I do." All Setsuna's worries tumbled out in one go.

"Sets, it'll be okay!" Hotaru moved to take her cousin's hands. "The Key will come, I'm sure! Even the Midnight Gate has let me know that - the one who stands outside Time and therefore outside Death will bring it to you!"

Setsuna stared, wide-eyed at Hotaru's declaration - not because she had made mention of the Midnight Gate, for the two cousins had shared the secret of their respective Gates since the first time they had met - but because of the description.

"But... He doesn't even know about the Key! He's never mentioned it!"

"Didn't you also tell me that Lord Chronos doesn't always talk to you in proper order?" Hotaru asked. "That sometimes he tells you stuff that hasn't happened yet, but it's like it's long passed for him? Maybe he just hasn't told the Wanderer about it yet?"

Setuna gave a huff of acknowledgment. "You're right, I just have to wait until Vector is told and goes get it."

"Exactly!" Hotaru smiled. "Now, lets get to the gardens and find the others!"

Setsuna smiled, glad to have her cousin's uncommon wisdom there to reassure her.

* * *

**Postscript: **No, the princess Serenity mentioned here is not Usagi's past self. This one is the first Serenity of the line. If she sounds a bit like Usagi however... well Usagi had to inherit it from somewhere! Also, a little insight into Earth's lack of immortality - Persephone's brother is a grandfather by now, while everyone else, celebrating the centennial of the Alliance are still young and healthy.


End file.
